By Sara Lemel, Emad Drimly and Julia Naue
dpa (TNS) Gaza possible ceasefire
(dpa TNS) Tel Aviv/Cairo — There was cautious optimism on Monday that a deal could be forthcoming on a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of hostages as US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke of the possibility of an agreement this week.
“The parties are right on the cusp of being able to close this deal,” Sullivan said in Washington.
“Whether or not we go from where we are now to actually closing it, the hours and days ahead will tell, but I believe it is there for the taking, and we’re going to do everything we can to push it, to get it across the line,” he added.
Reports: Three-stage plan being drawn up
According to Israeli media reports, a three-stage plan is being drawn up in the Qatari capital Doha.
This indirect negotiation between Israel and the Palestinian extremist group Hamas, in which Egypt and the United States are also mediating alongside Qatar, is said to include the release of Palestinian prisoners in return for the hostages in the hands of Hamas, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Earlier both Israel and Hamas reported significant progress.
Gaza possible ceasefire
Negotiations for a deal to halt the 15-month conflict had stalled for months and only recently saw new impetus amid the imminent inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
Hopes of a final agreement in the tough negotiations have been repeatedly dashed in the past.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a meeting in Jerusalem with his Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen that he had informed him of progress in the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Qatar.
“Israel wants the release of the hostages very much and is working hard to get a deal,” Saar said, according to his office. “We will soon know if the other side also wants a deal. We hope to see progress in the near future.”
Hamas reports ‘great progress’
A Hamas statement said that “great progress” had been made in the talks, with efforts under way to quickly conclude the negotiations.
The main hurdles have been overcome and an agreement is expected before Trump takes office, it said.
Hamas said earlier Monday it was preparing for the possible release of Palestinian prisoners in light of the latest reports.
“We renew our promise to our steadfast, patient people and to our heroic prisoners in the jails and affirm that their freedom will soon be achieved,” Hamas said on Monday.
Hamas released 105 hostages during a temporary ceasefire at the end of November 2023. In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from its jails.
Biden’s plan back on the table
Israeli media reports suggest negotiators in Doha have coalesced around a three-stage plan. The Israeli TV channel N12 reported that a response from Hamas is being awaited, while Hamas sources said the group was awaiting agreement from Israel.
The potential agreement is broadly based on a ceasefire plan that outgoing US President Joe Biden presented in May of last year.
Israel media report that in a first phase, more than 30 “humanitarian cases” among the hostages would be released, followed later by young men and soldiers in a second stage.
The third phase would see the reconstruction of the largely destroyed Gaza Strip and an alternative government for the coastal territory.
The Israeli military laid much of Gaza to ruins following the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 abducted to the sealed-off coastal territory.
Some 98 hostages are still held in Gaza though about one third of them are believed to be dead.
Some 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to Palestinian estimates.
‘Open the gates of hell in Gaza,’ minister demands
Among the strongest opponents of a ceasefire deal with Hamas is Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lashed out again against a potential agreement in the light of Monday’s reports, calling it a “disaster for the national security of the state of Israel.”
“We will not be part of a capitulation agreement that provides for the release of arch-terrorists, a halt to the war and a dilution of the achievements that were bought with much blood,” he wrote on social media platform X.
The agreement would also mean abandoning many hostages, he added.
“Now is the time to continue with all our might, to conquer and cleanse the entire Gaza Strip, to finally take the control of humanitarian aid out of Hamas’ hands and to open the gates of hell in Gaza until Hamas surrenders completely and returns all hostages,” Smotrich said.
Smotrich and far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who are in favour of Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip, have repeatedly threatened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past with the collapse of the coalition if Israel implements the Biden-backed agreement.
Five Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza
Five Israeli soldiers aged between 19 and 23 have been killed in fighting in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Eight other soldiers were seriously wounded, the army said on Monday. The soldiers were all part of a reconnaissance battalion. No further details have yet been provided.
It brings the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the beginning of the Gaza war and in fighting with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to 840.
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